How can retailers safeguard from cyber-attack this Cyber Monday?
This is the time of year where savvy cyber criminals see an opportunity. Last year, the Carbon Black Threat Analysis Unit reported that organisations saw a 20.5 percent increase in attempted cyber attacks between November and December 2016. This seasonal period is a goldmine for the latest generation of hackers to steal customer credentials as well as being the cause of damage to a retailer’s reputation.
With Cyber Monday taking place today, Black Friday last week and festive shopping throughout the coming weeks, this is the first year t he National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ intelligence service, has formally warned consumers about the threat which comes with these discount days – reflecting a significant uptick in the threat to consumers and businesses alike.
So, how can retailers safeguard from cyber-attack this Cyber Monday and beyond?
In order to beat the competition and incentivise consumers to come in store, many bricks and mortar retailers will increasingly be offering a digitised ‘retail theatre’ experience. Moreover, online retailers will expand their offerings. Privileged access security has to protect both the front-end devices – such as tills – as well as the back-end IT infrastructure. The Internet of Things (IoT) and rapid adoption of cloud services are bringing a whole new threat landscape to the shopping and sales experience. In-store retailers are increasingly looking to mirror the ‘Amazon effect’ in their shops, where customers can use phones as coupons to pay or whereby sensors and smart beacon technologies can predict whether a shopper is going to make a certain purchase or not. With a greater proliferation of devices and indeed data now stored in a physical shop, there are more ‘ways in’ for hackers to infiltrate the network.
For online retailers, the challenge remains to stay one step ahead when it comes to protecting customer data and keeping web properties up and running. To stay secure this festive season, retailers need to invest in privileged access security.
